Method of generating a combustible gas mixture



H. GAULT Jan. 2, 1940.

METHOD OF GENERATING A COMBUSTIBLE GAS MIXTURE Filed July 8, 1936 mW/MM Patented Jan. 2, 1940 'METHOI), or GENERATING A COMBUSTIBLE 1 L H GAS MIXTURE Henry Gault, Paris, France Application July s, 1936, Serial No. 89,633

' In France July 17, 1935 .2 Claims. (01. 4s 212) The present invention relates to the producv tion of combustible gas mixtures.

The object of the present invention is to pro" duce a combustible gas mixture through'the direct action ofa fuel burning without flame all liquid fuels in the presence of air under a low pressure, without any previous vaporization, gas-- ification or atomization. g I

' The essential feature of the present invention consists in the fact that the fuel (which may be heated in advance so as to render it more fluid) 1 is fed, in the liquid state, onto a refractory mass,

preferably of a porous structure, in the presence of. the amount of air necessary for the combustion', which, afterhavin-g been started, is continued Without flame on the inside of said mass, a certain amount of fuel being' simultaneously caused to flow through the'mass thus heated,

where it is subjected to the heating action there- "o'ffso as to generate at the outlet a gaseouscorm bustible mixture. Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be hereinafter described, with reference to the accompanying drawing, given merely by way of example, andjin which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical view of a first em bodiment;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of another embodiment. Example I .-A tube I (Fig-1), which is for in stance 30 mms. Wide and 500 mms. long, contains, upon a perforated bottom 2, a column, of a height of about 350 mms., of a refractory material, for instance of an aluminous or silico-aluminous nature, in'the form of grains of a diameter ranging for instance between and '7 mms. A tube 4, for the feed of air under a pressure corresponding to from 15 to 30 cms. of water opens into the free space 3 provided at one of the-ends of tube 1. Into the same space also opens, on the other hand, a second tube 5, through which the fuel, coming from a tank 6, located above tube 1, is fed, under the control of a cook or valve 1. The air flowing in through inlet 4,

may be preheated under normal conditions of working, for instance by causing it to circulate through a coil tube surrounding tube I, asshown at I! in the embodiment of Fig. 2. v

The space into which tubes 4 and 5 open con-. tains some turns of a metallic wire 8, the ends of which are electrically connected to a source of current 9, capable of heating said wire to incandescence. A switch is inserted in the circuit.

At the lower part-of tube I there is provided a free space II to which is connected a tube l2 for the outflow of gases.

In particular, the method substances, for instance metals or reducible In order to start combustion, air is first caused to now through tube l and some cubic centimeters of fuel, for instance of fuel oil, of 'a density of 0.945 at a temperature of 22 C. is fed into said tube 1.

guished, for instance by blowing it out by a sudden and temporary increase of the air flow. Then the flow of fuel is established, at the rate, of

about 1 cm and that ofair of 1215 litres per minute. Under these conditions, thecombustion of fuel oil takes place in contact with the refractory material in an even manner, without flame and Without deposit'of carbon. The refractory mass and the tube that contains it are now red hot over a length of about 25 cms. An analysis of the gases collected at the outlet of the tube shows that the amount of carbon monoxide ranges between 0.05 and 0.1 in volume and that no hydrocarbons are present. Y according to the present invention is applicable to all liquid fuels belonging to the group of natural and synthetic As wire 3 isincandescent, it produces ignition of the fuel. The heating current flowing through wire 8 is then cut off and after oneor two minutes the flame is exti npetroleums (forinstance gasolines, gas oils, fuel of 0.909-at a temperature of 22 C. and with air, the apparatus employed in Example I, under the same conditions, and with the same proportions of matters. When the refractory'mass and the tube that contains it are red hot over a length of about 25 cms., the rate of flow of fuel oil is increased to 810 cubic centimeters per minute. The zone of partial combustion changes in color from bright red to dark red, and there is produced a gasification of the excess of fuel oil that is introduced, so that there is obtained a combustible mixture of gas and vapour adapted to be employed for various uses, for instance for feedingan explosion engine. I

bustion and the working corresponding to partial combustion for the production of a combustible mixture may be improved by depositing upon the surfaces of said refractory material various tallic oxides.

I can treat according fuels cited at the end of Example I.

to Example II all the I I With certain fuels and certain refractory materials, the working corresponding to total come The production of a gaseous mixture can also be obtained by burning a portion of the fuel for heating the refractory mass over which the remainder of the fuel is fed for gasification thereof.

The apparatus shown by Fig. 2 permits of operating in this manner. In this apparatus, tube I forms a turn of a coil tube. Its upper end is provided with an air inlet 4 and a heavy fuel inlet 5. Furthermore, there is provided a sup-- plementary tube l3 adapted to permit of feeding a light fuel with a view to starting combustion. But the essential feature of this apparatus con sists in providing a tube M, opening into tube I at an intermediate point thereof. This tube M is fitted with a second fuel inlet l5 and preferably with air inlet S8 for secondary air. The air blown in through 4 is preheated, under normal working conditions, by passing through a coil l1 surrounding tube I. The combustion of the fuel admitted at the upper end of tube I together with the necessary amount of air keeps the contact mass at a high temperature. The fuel admitted through the intermediate tube M, and which may be mixed with a certain amount of air, serves to produce the fuel mixture.

If, instead of fuel, I introduce water through tube I4, I obtain, at the outlet of the apparatus, either steam or hot water according to the rate of feed of said water. For instance, if, for one part in volume of fuel introduced through 5, I introduce, through tube I4, twelve volumes of water, the latter flows out from the apparatus at a temperature of 100 C.

By admitting through tube it an aqueous suspension of 10 to of coal, for instance at the rate of 5 to 10 parts of this suspension for one part of fuel, I obtain a gaseous mixture containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

In a general manner, while I have, in the above description, disclosed what I deem to be practical and efiicient embodiments of the present invention, it should be well understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto as there might'be changes made in the above mentioned embodiments Without departing from the principle of the present invention as'comprehended within the scope of the accompanying claims.

What I claim is: 1. A continuous method .of generating a com bustible gas mixture, which comprises, directly pouring in a continuous manner onto the top portion of a red hot mass, having interstices therein consisting solely of a refractory material a liquid fuel in the compact state in the presence complete combustion of said fuel as it flows through the whole of said mass and to maintain" the latter at red heat, and simultaneously causing a further amount of fuelto enter the mass.

thus heated at an intermediate point thereof and to flow therethrough where it isv subjected to the heating action thereof, was to generate,

. of a combustionsustaining gas, so as to produce I at the outlet thereof, a gaseouscombustible mixture. p 2. A continuous method of generating a combustible gas mixture, which comprises,. directly pouring in a continuous manner onto the top portion of, a red hot mass, having interstices flows through the whole of said mass and to maintain the latter at red heatyand simultane-' ously introducing into the mass thus 'heated, at

an intermediate point thereof, a further amount of fuel together with an amount of air insufiicient for sustaining the combustion thereof, so that said last mentioned amount of fuel is sub,-

jected to the heating action of said mass and generates, at the outlet thereof, a gaseous combustible mixture. j I

HENRY GAULT. 

